If you’re in charge of your police department or law enforcement agency, do you have a protocol to follow in case of an officer-involved shooting? In the upcoming April 2014 issue of GUNS & WEAPONS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT, author Randy Rider goes to great lengths to detail what agencies need to help their LEOs get through the aftermath.

Rider writes, “Ideally, you should have a team set aside for shootings. This is a group of investigators that specialize in police shootings, and they should be well trained for these situations because they are entirely different that run-of-the-mill homicides. Why can’t we handle this as we would any other homicide? This is not the average bar shooting. We have a stake in this one—one of our own is involved.

“Investigators who have had experience in homicide must be there to work the case. Do not put an untrained officer on one of these assignments. Training specific in officer-involved shootings is a must. There are areas in which the case can be convoluted with the rights of the officer if an investigator is not trained properly.”

To learn more, check out the April 2014 issue of GUNS & WEAPONS FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT, available on newsstands and digitally January 7, 2014. To subscribe, go to http://www.tactical-life.com/subscribe/guns-weapons-for-law-enforcement/.

Mental awareness and quick-recall gun-handling skills can keep you alive!

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aaron

civilian reader

As a civilian reader of your magazine i understand that this publication is oriented toward law enforcement and many of the articles reflect the views and attitudes of police officers. I enjoy the reviews of the weapons and tactical gear and also read the articles directly related to the job of policing. The article entitled “Critical incident responses” was over the top biased and at worst dangerous! If a law enforcement officer finds his/herself in a situation that calls for the use of deadly force and it is justified then what is the problem with giving a witness statement to the proper authorities asap as their actions should be clear cut and their training should prepare them for this situation. A civilian would not have the luxury of 24 to 48 hours to get their “ducks in a row” before making a statement regardless of their state of mind and the possibility of the facts being misconstrued are far to great even amongst law enforcement officers. Police already have the advantage of having their peers do the investigation for use of deadly force incidents which is obviously a clear advantage in these types of situations . Nobody should be above the law and if anything more oversight should be placed on the actions of police officers as to keep criminal actions on the police force from becoming the norm. I know many of your readers may disagree with this view but one need only look on YouTube or Google police brutality caught on tape and let the camera do the talking! The days of police being able to claim they are above committing illegal acts are over… we are all human and should have to abide by the same rules. The trend towards the militarization of police forces is another good reason why strong outside oversight is necessary as no civilian wants to live in a police state where law enforcement are free to do what they want without consequence. to assume that a police officer is a “victim” in a use of deadly force incident should be determined through the same procedures anybody would go through in a self defence claim before the label of “victim” is used.